ONE person was arrested and drugs, money and weapons seized by Durham Police after an operation which apparently left one of its vehicles severely damaged.

Durham Road Policing Unit tweeted two photos of the BMW armed response vehicle in the early hours of Tuesday morning, said to have been taken 24 hours apart.

One shows the 64 plate X5 SUV in perfect condition, while the second shows it suffering from extensive front end damage.

The force did not say when or where the incident took place, but a tweet from @DurhamRPU, which accompanied the photos read: “What a difference a day makes. 1 arrested,drugs, cash&weapons recovered though!”

On its Facebook page, a spokesman for Cleveland and Durham Road Policing Unit wrote: "What a difference a day makes! Photographed yesterday in all its glory and then today....
"Although damaged, officers arrested a male for fail to stop, drug driving, drug and weapon offences. No persons injured."

A force spokesman later confirmed that a police pursuit ended in Pennine Drive Peterlee at around 9pm on Monday night.

A 23-year-old local man was arrested in connection with the incident.

The car involved came into service with the Durham Force in December of last year.